On Sunday, Mauritius voters went to the polls for the parliamentary election, local media reported.
A total of 73 parties and party alliances with 891 candidates are registered to contest the elections, including the Alliance Lepep (Alliance of the People), led by the country’s incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and former prime minister Navin Ramgoolam's Alliance for Change, according to the country's Office of the Electoral Commissioner (OES), which oversees and implements elections in Mauritius.
More than one million voters of a total population of 1.3 million are registered, the SADC Electoral Observation Mission reported.
In 2019, Jugnauth's leadership was solidified as a coalition of parties led by his center-left Militant Socialist Movement secured a majority of seats in the parliament.
The government initially imposed a ban on social media during the election process to control the fallout from the wiretapping scandal, but it was quickly lifted due to public outrage, media reports say.
According to the media reports, a TikTok account called "Missie Moustass" (Mr. Mustache) started making audio recordings public in October. The recordings purportedly included over a dozen phone conversations between high-ranking politicians discussing opposition members, law enforcement, attorneys, journalists, and civil society members.
Anil Kumar Dip, the island's police commissioner, is supposedly heard on one of the tapes requesting that a forensic physician change the post-mortem report of a victim who passed away following physical abuse while in police custody.
Anil Kumar Dip, the island's police commissioner, is supposedly heard on one of the tapes requesting that a forensic physician change the post-mortem report of a victim who passed away following physical abuse while in police custody.
Jugnauth, who is running for reelection, has reportedly hinted that the videos may have been altered with artificial intelligence and announced a judicial investigation.
The election follows the dissolution of parliament by the prime minister in early October.
Approximately 2,000 kilometers off the east coast of Africa, Mauritius has established a prosperous economy supported by its banking, tourism, and agricultural industries.